Transcript Ecology Flashcards

Subject Here
Ecology & the
Environment
Ecology
Study of the interactions that take place
among organisms and their
environment.
Chapter 20
Biotic
Living parts of the
environment; plants animals
& microorganisms
Chapter 20
Abiotic
Non-living parts of the
environment; water, air, light,
rocks
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Consumer
Organism that cannot create energyrich molecules (glucose) but obtains
its food by eating other organisms
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Producer
An organism, such as a plant or alga,
which produces glucose from carbon
dioxide by photosynthesis and is a
source of food for other organisms
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Carnivore
Animals who hunt and eat other
animals; meat eater
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Omnivore
An organism that eats both plants and
animals
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Herbivore
An animal that eats plants
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Food Chain
The relationship between plants and
animals that shows who eats what.
Energy is transferred from one
organism to another through the food
chain
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Food Web
A model of feeding relationships,
describing the connections among all
food chains within an ecosystem
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Energy Pyramid
A representation of the loss of useful
energy at each step in a food chain
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Pyramid of
Numbers
Based on the number of organisms
needed to make a simple food chain.
Shows how large populations of certain
organisms are needed to support very
small populations of other organisms.
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Symbiosis
An interactive association between two
or more species living together; may
be parasitic, commensal, or
mutualistic. The relationship between
two organisms
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Commensalism
A symbiotic relationship in which one
species benefits and the other is not
affected
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Parasitism
A form of symbiosis in which the
population of one species benefits at
the expense of the population of
another species
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Mutualism
A symbiotic interaction between two
species in which both derive some
benefit
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Competition
One of the biological interactions that
can limit population growth; occurs
when two species vie with each other
for the same resource
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Population
All the organisms that belong to the
same species living in a community
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Community
All the populations of different species
that live in an ecosystem
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Habitat
Place where an organism lives and that
provides the types of food, shelter,
moisture, and temperature needed for
survival
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Niche
An organism’s place in the ecosystem: where
it lives, what it consumes, what consumes
it, and how it interacts with all biotic and
abiotic factors. A unique ecological role of
an organism in a community.
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Organism
Any living thing
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Biosphere
Part of Earth that supports life,
including the top portion of Earth's
crust, the atmosphere, and all the
water on Earth's surface
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Ecosystem
All the living organisms that live in an
area and the nonliving features of
their environment
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Limiting Factor
Anything that can restrict the size of a
population, including living and
nonliving features of an ecosystem,
such as predators or drought
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Carrying Capacity
Largest number of individuals of a
particular species that an ecosystem
can support over time
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Biotic Potential
The maximum reproductive rate of an
organism, given unlimited resources
and ideal environmental conditions
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Exponential Growth
Growth of a population without any
constraints; therefore, the population
will grow at an ever-increasing rate
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Photosynthesis
The chemical reaction in which green
plants combine water and carbon
dioxide in the presence of sunlight to
form glucose and oxygen
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Predator
An animal that kills and eats other
animals
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Prey
An animal that is killed and eaten by
another animal
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